Out of the Shadows 22

   

Leia Organa’s Office - Imperial palace, Coruscant

 

“Message coming in,” Han murmured in Leia’s ear. “And I would ignore it because I’m taking you out to eat.”

 

“What?” Leia lifted her head tiredly and gazed at him as if she couldn’t believe he was there. “Is it that time already?” she asked plaintively. “It can’t be. I’ve still got a third of this to read.” She’d been looking through the copious amounts of data sent by another new world petitioning to join the New Republic and had almost forgotten that she’d arranged to meet him for lunch. “A message? What kind of message?”

 

“It’s long past our agreed time for lunch and your com centre appears to be going mad.” Han jerked his head towards the apparatus located against the far wall of the office, its coloured lights flickering urgently. “I’m not blessed with all that hokey Force stuff, so unless you go and open it, I won’t know what it’s all about.” He bent forward to nuzzle her ear suggestively. “Surely it can wait. I haven’t seen you all morning.”

 

“Yes, well, I’m not so sure that I can tell you what it’s all about without opening it either.” Leia’s voice was wry. “You may have forgotten that I’m still rather new to the idea of being Force strong and I definitely have difficulty in trusting my feelings.”

 

Han rolled his eyes. “About some things, maybe. You never used to be afraid of trusting your gut on anything. But you’ve had three whole years to get used to the idea of being like Luke.”

 

“I’ll never be like Luke,” Leia automatically denied. “The power he was displaying before he left us was almost bewildering to me.”

 

“He was trying to teach you but you wouldn’t make the time to learn properly.”

 

“I was busy trying to overthrow an evil regime and set up a new system of government,” Leia said quietly, knowing that what Han said was true but unwilling to admit it aloud. “The Jedi lessons didn’t seem to be so important at the time.”

 

“You’re scared of the power,” Han concluded shrewdly. “This isn’t something you can control so easily. Leia, sweetheart, Luke has faith in you.”

 

Her expression softened. “Luke has faith in most people. He forgave Vader. I could never do that.”

 

“No, Luke didn’t forgive Vader. He forgave Anakin Skywalker and to him that is a different scenario altogether because he really sees them as being different.” Han sat on the edge of her desk, one leg swinging gently. “I can understand why you can’t.”

 

“I know you do. He tortured you, too. It’s just too much to forgive and I still can’t see Darth Vader as my father.”

 

“Maybe one day you can see what Luke sees and accept Anakin as a father instead. It will take time but I know that you can do it. I think that you’ll have to.” Han reached out his hand and ran a comforting finger carefully down her cheek in a soft caress. “Have you got time to look at the message?”

 

“Why are you so curious? I thought you weren’t interested.”

 

“I’m just nosey.” Their eyes met, the love between them visible.

 

“You don’t say,” she flirted back with a smile. “I don’t suppose Luke could tell what was in a message without hearing it either. He might know if it was urgent or dangerous.”

 

“If the amount of lights flickering on the console indicates the importance, that is a Class A priority communiqué.” He chuckled. “But that is a rather old piece of equipment.”

 

“It works.” Leia checked her wrist chrono. “I have a meeting with Admiral Ackbar and several of his top diplomats in an hour. I may have to forgo lunch with you this time.” She made a face. “It’s all to do with this treaty.”

 

“You like the old fish.” Han genuinely respected Admiral Ackbar. “It won’t be too bad. You’ve had worse ordeals than this.”

 

“Not if he goes running down the rights of the smugglers again – oh, sorry, I forgot.” She smiled mock-sweetly. “The independent operators. Gelos thrives on them and don’t call him an ‘old fish’.”

 

“Gelos?” Han’s brow furrowed. “Now that’s somewhere I’ve never been – I’ve heard of it but never been there. It’s not Outer Rim is it?”

 

Leia shook her head.

 

“Where exactly is Gelos?”

 

“I’m surprised you haven’t heard of it, Han. It’s a Mid Rim world, not too far from Commenor. It must be the only place you didn’t smuggle something to.”

 

“Very funny,” Han muttered dryly.

 

Leia’s mouth curved, her eyes gleaming. “I may need to go there as part of the negotiations.”

 

“And you don’t want to go?” Han leaned over and dropped a kiss on Leia’s forehead.

 

“Someone else could go for a change. I’m sorry…” Her mouth compressed. “I don’t mean to complain. I’m just tired.”

 

“It’s because you’re the best, sweetheart, that they all want you.”

 

“You could come with me…General!”

 

“Ooh! Nasty,” he mumbled at the sound of his New Republic rank. “I’ll pass this time.”

 

“Good idea.”

 

“You don’t want me with you?” he said, pretending to be outraged.

 

“Not when you’re in this mood. At least the diplomats I met yesterday were extremely pleasant. Ambassador Cilghal was most interested in the tour of the palace medical facilities this morning.”

 

“Is she one of the Geloss?”

 

“No, she’s one of Ackbar’s team. But the Mon Calamari are merely acting as intermediaries for the Geloss. They have the reputation of being more difficult to please…”

 

“Than the Mon Cals?” Han interrupted. “Sweetheart!”

 

“You’re just upset that Ackbar doesn’t like smugglers. The Geloss would take it as a grave insult if I did not travel to their world to meet with them.”

 

“I’m crushed that you no longer require my company at all times,” Han declared theatrically, his hand on his heart.

 

Leia rolled her eyes. “No, you’re not.”

 

“I’m not,” he agreed, smirking, a mischievous twinkle lighting his hazel eyes. “I may just come with you to annoy Karl and Chevin.”

 

“They don’t annoy that easily,” Leia retorted. “If I have to have guards they are more than acceptable. Shall we check out this message?” She stood up and walked to the com centre.

 

“Go ahead.” Han grinned. “I’m all ears unless it’s too sensitive.”

 

“General Solo, I do believe that you’ve been granted the highest levels of security clearance by General Cracken.”

 

“You’re most likely right on that one.”

 

“I am.” Leia’s mouth curved. Force, she loved this man. He’d made her smile more times in ten minutes than anyone else would have managed in a week.

 

“Trader Mara Jade of the Karrde Shipping Company sends you this message,” the computer intoned solemnly. “Do you accept?”

 

“Mara!” Leia said and looked at Han, eyebrows raised. “I wonder what she has to say. It’s not a live feed.”

 

“Probably recorded as soon as she left Coruscant and time delayed for its arrival.”

 

“Probably.” Leia tipped her head to one side and looked up at Han. “And also because you had Cracken’s people watching the spaceport. I guess she didn’t want to be chased all the way to Dagobah by Rogue Squadron.”

 

“They wouldn’t have done that – would they?”

 

Leia arched an eyebrow. “They might. If Wedge thought that Luke’s life was in jeopardy then...” She shrugged lightly. “Who can say?”

 

“They’d go after her.” Han was certain of the regard that Wedge and the rest of Luke’s former comrades held for the man they still considered to be their true leader. “Well?” he waved his hand towards the monitor. “Are we ready to proceed?”

 

“Yes,” Leia answered and touched the vid-screen. “We accept the message.”

 

Mara Jade’s composed face appeared on the holo screen in front of them. “Good day, Councillor Organa…General Solo.”

 

“How did she know I’d be here,” Han muttered.

 

Leia chuckled and paused the transmission. “An educated guess, I would suspect.”

 

Han smiled. The time they spent together was precious to him. “Yeah, probably. You are marrying me remember, princess?”

 

“How could I possibly forget?”

 

Han tried to look injured. “You would try?” he asked mournfully.

 

“Never,” Leia stated. “I love you, nerfherder.”

 

“I’m very loveable,” Han stated complacently.

 

“Most of the time you are,” his fiancée muttered.

 

“All of the time.” Han narrowed his hazel eyes and leaned towards her threateningly.

 

“I’ll try and remember that the next time we fight.” Leia shot back, meeting his mock fierce stare with one of her own. This bantering between them made her feel so alive. Han was the only person who talked to her like this. He was the only one she allowed that privilege. To anyone who knew her well, that was a giveaway sign. Leia Organa loved Han Solo deeply.

 

“We never fight,” Han disagreed, a smug grin on his lips. “What we have is a healthy difference of opinion. I love you too, sweetheart, and we’re having that wedding ceremony the second the Kid walks in through the door. Let’s see what Mistress Jade has to say today. I must admit to being curious.”

 

Leia restarted the message and listened carefully as Mara’s cool, Coruscant-educated voice filled the room.

 

“As you are aware, I left Coruscant two days ago for an unspecified destination. I have recently discovered information which will hopefully lead me to Dagobah and your brother’s location. It is at least a week away travelling through the quickest hyperspace routes…”

 

“So where the hell is Dagobah exactly?” Han said, reaching out and pressing the pause button. “I’ve flown from one end of the galaxy to another and never come across it although I have my suspicions. It’s too large an area of space and there are pockets which have never been properly charted.”

 

“The Outer Rim,” Leia said softly. “We looked.”

 

“I would have put a homing beacon in the Kid’s X-wing years ago if it weren’t for the fact he would have found it and tossed it.”

 

“If we knew exactly where it was, we’d have been there long ago and brought him home. He didn’t want us to know – didn’t want to give us the temptation. If she finds Luke…”

 

“You’re not worried about his safety?” Han’s voice rose. “I thought you said that you trusted her.”

 

“I do trust her and I’m not worried about his safety. No, Luke will win her over.” Leia was absolutely certain of this – she had to be. Anything else was impossible to contemplate and besides, it was Luke’s way.

 

Han was less certain but he recognised much of his younger self in Jade’s truculent manner and Luke had won him over. “I sure hope he does so but he hasn’t always got the best start in a situation and with Jade he’s gonna need all the luck he has.”

 

“Luke doesn’t…” Leia began.

 

“Yeah, yeah! The Force. There’s no such thing as luck. But Leia, the Kid nearly bit the dust the very first time he stepped into a cantina on Mos Eisley. He almost didn’t get off Tatooine.”

 

“I know, he told me all about it. He said it was his first true lesson in seeing past what a person looked like on the outside. You and the Millennium Falcon were his second lesson.”

 

“I like that,” Han grouched, but inside, he was touched. The Kid had had faith in all of them.

 

“Do you really think Obi-Wan Kenobi would have let anything happen to him?” Leia wasn’t expecting an answer. “Luke was the hope for the Jedi’s rebirth and the galaxy’s salvation. Only he could have fired the shot that destroyed the Death Star.” 

 

“Okay, okay. I believe you. Mara is squeaky clean. Let’s hear what she’s up to. I hope its not an ‘I’ve found him and finished him off’ message.”

 

 “It’s not. She’s only been away for two days.”

 

“A lot can happen in two days,” Han said darkly. Han said darkly.

 

“Mara said it would take her at least a week to get to where she thinks the planet is. Now be quiet,” Leia shushed him.

 

“I’m quiet,” he muttered. “Very quiet.”

 

“Han!” She nodded impatiently at him and Han flicked the switch once more continuing the playing of Mara’s message.

 

Mara’s voice was steady. “I’m heading out along the Rimma Trade Route. The ancient maps I consulted placed Dagobah way beyond Sullust.”

 

“Outer Rim,” Han said. “Kid would be at home out there.”

 

“When I find him, I will not kill him. He will be safe – you have my word.” Her expression was one of annoyed resignation.

 

“Good, I’m so glad,” Han said sardonically. “She’s all heart.” He paused the recording once more. “Where do you keep your maps, Leia? Rimma trade route…Sullust…”

 

“We’re not going,” Leia said firmly, restarting it again, ignoring Han’s little boy scowl.

 

“When I do find him I will try and persuade him to return with me. He may, of course, not want to do that.” She fidgeted a little in front of the holo-recorder. “Before I leave you I wanted to give you something to prove my intentions are good ones – just don’t broadcast this to the rest of the Inner Council and the Senate quite yet. I like my freedom.”

 

“What could she possibly give us that could compromise her freedom?” Leia was mystified.

 

As if she had heard the words of the Alderaanian princess, Mara smiled enigmatically. “In the depths of the Imperial palace there are many concealed chambers. I would be surprised if you have yet discovered them all.” She listed a set of co-ordinates and the instruction to press the carved head of one of the mythical beasts represented in the detailed plasterwork carving. “I think you may be very interested in the contents of this one and if anyone asks…I had nothing to do with this. Jade out.” Her image faded from the screen in front of them.

 

Leia saved the message before shutting off the com centre, then stared at Han in disbelief. “She never ceases to surprise me. I wonder how much information Mara Jade could really give us.”

 

“Quite a lot, I would suspect, as a former high-ranking Imperial.” Leia opened her mouth to argue and Han held up his hands. “What! I’m not stating anything asteroid-blowing here. If she didn’t work for us, she worked for them. It’s as simple as that. She’s worked for Karrde for less than a year. Does he know where she came from?”

 

Leia made a decision. “Come on.”

 

“What about your meeting?”

 

“Cancel it.”

 

“But the Admirals and the treaty…”

 

“They can wait. This can’t.”

 

“It can wait,” Han muttered and ignored the glare Leia sent him. “But I must admit that I’m curious too. Impatience is a Skywalker trait after all and I must have caught it from you. Did you notice that she said ‘when’ she found him and not ‘if’?”

 

“I noticed.” Leia grabbed a couple of glow rods and checked her pocket blaster. “Out!” She motioned to the door. “We’re going to see what’s there.”

 

“Now?” Han said blinking.

 

“Yes, now.”

 

He grinned. “Yes, your Worshipfulness.”

 

“Han…”

 

“Yes, sweetheart.”

 

“I’ve read every single file on the Imperials with the highest levels of clearance and Mara’s name doesn’t appear on any of them.”

 

“That just means that she wasn’t on those particular lists.”

 

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Cloud City Medical Facility, Bespin

 

Lando Calrissian swept into the pristine, sterile whiteness of the Cloud City medical suite. “I believe our patient is conscious?”

 

“He is.” The medical droid moved smoothly across gleaming floor tiles towards the viewing window. “However, I’m not happy with his current condition.”

 

“Not happy? In what way?”

 

“I would value your honest opinion, Baron Calrissian. Go in and talk to him but only stay a few minutes please. He is very tired.”

 

Mystified Lando did so. “I’m not a medical man you know,” he said with a wink as he paused by the door. “I can tell you if his wounds have healed by looking at them but that’s about my limit. I passed basic field medicine far too long ago at survival school to be of much help.”

 

“It is not his physical well-being that I’m worried about. If you will excuse me, Baron Calrissian? I need to go and check on my other patients.”

 

“Of course.” Lando smoothed a non-existent piece of fluff away from his powder blue cape and tapped gently on Streen’s door. “Hey!” he said cheerfully in that tone of voice one reserved for very small children and invalids. “How are you feeling? You are looking better than when I last saw you.”

 

The patient didn’t move, lying motionless against his crisp white pillow, his eyes closed.

 

Lando moved further into the pristine private ward letting the door slide shut behind him. He didn’t believe the old man was asleep for a single moment. There was something rather too tense about the way he was lying there. “I believe you are feeling much better?” Lando asked again.

 

There was a sigh and carefully, the old man sat up. He’d hoped to fool any possible visitors into thinking he was asleep. Indeed, he knew of none who might visit him as he had no family or friends. “Do I know you?”

 

Lando’s trademark grin widened. “We’ve never met but I’ve heard all about you, Citizen Streen. I’m Lando Calrissian, the administrator of this facility. My men picked up your distress call on Tibannopolis and brought you here.”

 

“Baron Administrator Calrissian?” The old man’s watery pale blue eyes widened as he took in the immaculate dress of his visitor.

 

Lando drew himself up a little, his pride in the title evident. “Some refer to me by that title,” he said.

 

“I know of you but you should not know me.” Streen’s brow furrowed and he plucked at the bedclothes.  “I should not be here. Why am I here? I want to go back to Tibannopolis. At least I can be alone there.”

 

The door swung open smoothly and this time, the medical droid moved into the room. “Ah, my patient is awake. Citizen Streen is lucky to be alive but now he needs to rest.”

 

“Tried to rest,” he muttered shaking his head. “Tried to rest but cannot sleep. I hear the voices – always they call me, never resting. I must get out of here. I hear the voices crying day and night. Too many of them. The old city was quiet, only the sound of the wind and the song of the rawks.” His wrinkled hands began to tremble as he lifted them to cover his faded blue eyes. “I don’t want to hear the voices. Take them away…”

 

“You must rest,” the med droid urged calmly, checking the equipment that was monitoring Streen’s vital signs. “I think it would be better if you left, Baron Calrissian. This was not a good idea. My patient must not be distressed any further.”

 

Lando watched helplessly as the old man rocked back and fore, mumbling to himself and plucking at his beard. He’d done what the med-droid had suggested and to his knowledge hadn’t done anything that might have upset the old man. “I think I know someone who can help him.”

 

Streen dropped his hands from his face and stared at Lando. “I need help. I cannot stay here. I must go where the voices do not cry. So many…”

 

“We’ll find someone who can help,” he said soothingly and nodded at the med droid who slid the hypospray against the distressed man’s neck. Streen closed his eyes with a relieved sigh. The voices would be still for a little while.

 

“As you can see, Baron, he is easily distressed.”

 

“I thought I had a possible Jedi candidate, not a sad old man with a multiple personality disorder.”

 

“He is quite sane in my opinion,” the droid said moving out of the room.

 

Lando followed him sardonically muttering, “Your circuits better not be malfunctioning. Have you sent for the psych droid?”

 

“My weekly diagnostic was successful. I am in prime condition.” The droid moved to a monitoring station where he was able to oversee the condition of all his patients. “His psych evaluations were all within normal parameters although I do suspect he may be prone to bouts of depression. I know little of the Jedi, Baron Calrissian, but Citizen Streen is exhibiting all the signs of a telepath unable to shield.”

 

Lando swore under his breath. “The voices in his head,” he said suddenly understanding. “He needs solitude because he cannot shield himself from the thoughts of others. That’s why he lived and worked on Tibannopolis alone.”

 

“There is little I can do for the moment but keep him sedated or in stasis.”

 

“Stasis?” Lando tapped his fingers against his chin. “Leia Organa is looking for Jedi artefacts and possible Jedi trainees for Luke to work with. If she knows where Luke’s hiding himself these days, maybe she can get him to come and have a look at Streen.”

 

“You know of someone who could help our patient?” the med-droid asked.

 

“Yes.” ‘Stang, Luke,’ Lando thought. ‘This guy and others like him need you When are you coming back?’ The tight strain hovering about Leia’s mouth the last time he had seen her worried him. She was missing the young Jedi and so was Han. Sometimes Lando thought that Han missed Luke more than Leia did.

 

“There is little more I can do for him here. I have healed his body. I cannot heal his mind if there is nothing wrong with it.”

 

Lando pursed his lips as he made a decision. “When you next awaken him, ask him about stasis and tell him that I know of someone who might be able to help him. I was planning a visit to the Core. I’ll take him with me if he agrees.”

 

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Kulthis Spaceport

 

Tionne finished loading the last of her supplies into her ship, the Lore Seeker. It had been an interesting trip and she would never forget Kam Solusar – a real Jedi knight. Despite Kam’s own doubts Tionne was certain that was what he was. The fact that he was questioning everything he had done and was trying to move forward and make a new life for himself, following the ideas he had been taught as a boy and turning his back on darkness, told her that much. Hopefully one day they would meet again. She wished he had accepted her offer to travel with her. But she was heading towards Ossus and he, for some reason, was heading for the Core. She hadn’t asked why and he hadn’t volunteered the information. It was, after all, none of her business.

 

It would have been wonderful to visit the Core with Kam. He’d been able to tell her so many things about the Jedi. He had all that untapped knowledge inside his head and Tionne admitted to herself that she was jealous of such a treasure trove of precious information. She was sure he’d only told her a fraction of what he knew. She gave a heavy sigh full of regret. It was not to be as he had already left on an earlier shuttle.

 

“Tionne!”

 

She turned with a gasp as she’d been unaware that she was not alone. “Kam? I thought that you had already gone. You said that you were taking the earlier transport. Did something happen? Is anything wrong?”

 

“I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.” His grey eyes held hers steadily.

 

“Oh!” Tionne murmured quietly. “But we already…” They’d bid one another a swift almost impersonal farewell the previous evening and something about the way they had parted had hurt. It was unlikely that they would ever meet again. Tionne wasn’t certain how she’d felt about that but here he was, standing in front of her, his face serious and, by the memory of her grandmother, she was glad.

 

“Where are you going next?” he asked.

 

“I’m not exactly sure. I thought I might head for Ossus.”

 

An important world in the lives and history of the Jedi, he thought. She was truly dedicated to her chosen study without thought of reward. The pursuit of knowledge was Tionne’s prize. She had the heart of a Jedi and he wanted to help her. She was not equipped for such a search on her own. Perhaps the Force itself was directing her in her quest.

 

“It’s not a very good environment. I wouldn’t recommend going there by yourself. You would need the proper equipment. After the sun went nova…” he stopped lamely. “There’s not much to see anymore.”

 

“Oh,” Tionne said again. “But I wanted to see the place where the greatest of the Jedi libraries was once located.”

 

“Once being the operative word.”

 

“You’ve been there?”

 

Kam closed his eyes and could visualise the place amongst his memories. “It was a long time ago and there was little to see even then. If there were any forgotten treasure left I would be surprised. The Empire looted most of the known sites most effectively.”

 

“Things have a way of getting lost,” Tionne said slowly. “But also of remaining hidden until the right person comes searching for them.” How many treasures had been completely destroyed? How many had been hidden by the Jedi as they fled for their lives? The possibilities were too numerous to even think about.

 

Tionne closed one of her storage compartments and walked up the ramp into the ship. When Kam followed her, she turned and looked at him. “What happened to…?”

 

“The information…the artefacts?” Kam shrugged. “I’m not entirely sure. Some things were destroyed or transported to museums in the Core. Things that were considered dangerous, the Emperor’s agents took to his private stores on Coruscant, Byss and Wayland. He had other secret locations for such things.”

 

“You know where these places are?”

 

Kam shook his head. “No,” he said, bitterly. “I was not important enough to be trusted with such things. I can’t even tell you the co-ordinates to Byss and Wayland. Maybe he suspected that I would renounce the dark side. I have done so but I am not yet free from its sinister shadow.”

 

“Where are you going?” She didn’t really need to ask that question. She knew he was hoping to go to Coruscant.

 

“Coruscant,” he said confirming her guess. “I can find work there. It should be safe enough for me to go there now that Palpatine and Vader are both dead.”

 

“Work?”

 

“I helped with an archaeological dig on Kaellin III for several months. It was just a labouring job but it was interesting, paid well and I enjoyed it. It also turned up some Jedi artefacts. That shouldn’t have been a surprise to me because it was once the site of a small Jedi temple. However, like most of the others I thought it had been stripped clean, the objects looted and then destroyed.” Unconsciously his hand travelled to the lightsaber he wore concealed under his loose clothing. “The head of the dig offered me work if I ever came to Coruscant.”

 

“Did they know?”

 

“That I was a fallen Jedi or that it was a Jedi site?”

 

“You are not a fallen Jedi,” Tionne exclaimed, her eyes flashing silver. “You had a slight deviation from the natural course of your life and…”

 

“I’ve never heard it described like that before,” Kam said with a warm smile, pleased at the way she had sprung to his defence. “But no, they didn’t know I was once a Jedi. I felt it was for the best to keep such a thing secret. Not everyone sees the return of the Jedi in a positive light.”

 

“But a Jedi site!” Tionne exclaimed, her eyes large in her pale face. “Was it a chance find?”

 

“They appeared to know about the site – or the head archaeologist did. She is knowledgeable in the field. ”

 

“Then I must try to talk to her.”

 

“She is very much in demand throughout the galaxy. You would be very lucky to find her in any one place for longer than a few days.” Kam was noncommittal.

 

“You are still a Jedi Knight,” Tionne declared, voicing her earlier thoughts about the man before her.

 

Kam looked surprised and then pleased. “Thank you. It’s nice to have your confidence. There was something not quite right about that whole affair. I can’t really explain the way I felt.”

 

“Did you not trust these people?”

 

Kam sighed. “I’m not sure.”

 

“Then why did you work for them?”

 

“To find out the truth. It’s one of the reasons I decided to go to Coruscant. They’ve started on the foundations of what was once the Jedi temple.”

 

Tionne’s mouth went dry. “They know where it is?”

 

Kam snorted. “Of course they do. I could go to the galactic capital today and point it out to any passing tourist. I remember being there as a young boy.” His face darkened. “Luckily for me, I wasn’t there when Darth Vader came calling. He killed many of my peers…my friends. We never recovered.”

 

Tionne placed a comforting hand on his arm. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, her mind whirling. The Jedi temple! It was more than a building. It had been the seat of the Jedi’s power in the galaxy and Kam knew where it had stood.

 

“No, it’s I who should be sorry,” he apologised a little stiffly. “I would ask you to keep in touch but there’s little point unless...” Kam hesitated staring down into Tionne’s silvery eyes with something neither of them recognised as longing. “We shall be too far away from one another – it would almost be impossible.”

 

“Not if we made a real effort. I would like it very much,” she said simply, turning her face away from him. Kam Solusar’s dark grey eyes looked at her as if he could see into her heart and mind.

 

Kam hesitantly placed a hand on her shoulder. “Tionne…”

 

“It’s alright.”

 

Kam wondered if he was about to say something rash but he said it anyway. “We could both travel to Coruscant, Tionne. I have enough credits to pay for my passage and would be more than willing to help you if you needed help. It would be nice to have company.”

 

“My ship is big enough for two but I don’t really know you…”

 

“You do,” Kam interjected firmly. “You have the Force.”

 

“I do?” Tionne tried not to react to the fact that her voice had risen in an embarrassingly high squeak of surprise.

 

“I’m quite certain. I don’t think you are a particularly strong adept but you have enough ability and certainly the dedication to make yourself useful to the order.”

 

Tionne could barely believe what she was hearing. She didn’t care if she was the weakest Force user in the entire galaxy but only that she had enough to be useful.

 

“Perhaps this is your destiny. Your quest for knowledge has probably been nurtured by the Force.” He placed both hands on her shoulders. “It may seem that we met by chance but chance, I think, had little to do with this. I think the Force has brought you to me or me to you. I don’t care which. Think, Tionne…” His hands tightened. “Coruscant and the Jedi temple. It would be so good to be there after all these years. There could be things for us to find together. Until I met you, I hadn’t realised how much I missed the call of the Force and others of my own kind.”

 

“Coruscant!” Tionne exclaimed with awe. The jewel of the Core Worlds was beckoning her and she would have company on her journey – company with information about the Jedi to share. Her pearly eyes gleamed silver. “We have a deal.”

 

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Rhommamool

 

Kelt shivered under his woollen cloak. He couldn’t work out if it was from the cold or from the fear that seemed to have him in its constant icy grip. He’d been in this almost perpetual state of worried anxiety since the death of his family and his possibly impetuous decision to leave Osar. The rest of the time, he’d just felt numb with the agony of remembering the last moments of his family’s lives as they’d been cut down in front of him. If he’d been in the house with them, then he would have died too – he was sure of it. He had no clue why the random attack had happened and neither had the authorities. His family had been good, law-abiding citizens and had never harmed anyone or anything. He was lucky that there had been no evidence suggesting that he’d done such an evil deed or he may have been imprisoned wrongly for the rest of his natural life.

 

He didn’t want to stay in Osar after his family’s tragedy but didn’t know where to go next. Even if he had the ability, how could he ever become a Jedi? His grandmother had said that he had the Force but she’d been ill for so many years it could just have been the ramblings of an old and muddled lady. However, a Jedi could see things that others could not. His grandmother had known something bad was going to happen and they’d all dismissed her words. He should have known better. He sometimes saw things too, knew things that he should never have known. But it hadn’t been enough to save his family.

 

The Jedi didn’t just appear out of thin air when one was needed – a pity, because that’s what he could have done with. He didn’t know how to find them or even what they looked like. Could you tell by looking at them that they were Jedi Knights? His grandmother had told him many stories about their heroic deeds and finally of their betrayal and deaths at the hands of the Sith. How he wished she was still alive to tell him those tales now. She would have known how to find the Jedi.

 

The lightsaber and the data cards she’d given him were stashed at the very bottom of his shabby carryall. It hadn’t felt right for him to have the weapon swinging from his belt – not when he hadn’t the faintest idea how to use it.

 

If his grandmother had been the genuine article – a real Jedi – why hadn’t she said anything before? Kelt shook his head at his own foolishness. She’d told him in the only way she knew how…by her stories. How many of them had been real? He’d never quite believed her as they’d been too fantastic to be true but in the light of her presenting him with the weapon, the symbol of the Jedi, and the manner of her death he had to believe she’d been telling him the truth. She’d definitely prepared him for better things than working in the factory like his father and grandfather. He’d been given the best schooling that the family could afford and it had been she, not his father, that had given him his weapons and survival training. Had Kehta been preparing him for a life away from Osar?

 

Perhaps she’d intended to tell him the truth long ago but as he’d reached his majority and left school forever, the vagueness and confusion had overrun her mind. It was too late now and he’d probably never know.

 

Kelt stared at the decrepit tramp freighters all around him. One of the delivery haulers on Osar had agreed to transport him to Rhommamool, which had an intergalactic spaceport, if he helped with the cargo. He’d never sought to travel out of his safe little environment, no matter how exciting his grandmother’s tales had been. Now, he felt he had little choice. From here he could pick up passage out of the system – perhaps Commenor or even Corellia. The Corellians were amongst the most famous space travellers in the galaxy. He could then find work – perhaps on a ship as part of a crew, get some more credits behind him and then move to anywhere he wanted in the Core Worlds. It was, at least, some sort of a plan.

 

With another shiver, he pulled his cloak more securely around his thin shoulders and finished moving the last of the cargo the Captain had asked him to shift.

 

“Thanks, Kelt.” The Captain, an older man in his early fifties, clapped him on the back.

 

“No problem, Captain Kar,” Kelt answered with a shrug and a smile. “I appreciated the lift. My credits are not plentiful.”

 

“Where are you planning on going next? Rhommamool’s a good place to move on from. There’s not much opportunity for a young man to make his way in the galaxy if you stay on this piece of rock.”

 

Kelt wondered if he was wise to make his own plans known but then he wasn’t exactly sure what those plans were. “I thought I’d head towards the Core eventually. But I need to make a few more credits first.”

 

“That’s always a good plan but make sure you get it banked or put away somewhere safe.” The captain thought hard and then grinned. “I’m heading towards Commenor to pick up a cargo of grain. That’s the farthest I go – this old girl isn’t built for long distances.” He smiled fondly at his elderly, dilapidated freighter. “You’ve been quite a help on the voyage. If you want, you could come with us. I know my crew appreciated the extra pair of hands. In fact, you could stay a couple of months, earn some more credits and we’ll drop you off on the planet of your choice when you’re ready to move on.”

 

Kelt gulped. “Do you mean it?”

 

“Sure. Wouldn’t have offered otherwise.”

 

“Thanks. I appreciate it.” He shivered again.

 

The captain noticed the almost imperceptible tremor. “You’re not used to travelling are you, young one? Space can be cold. You look about the same size as my son was when he was still crewing for me. He has his own ship now but I think he left some warmer clothing in his old cabin. He won’t be needing them anymore as he’s grown quite a bit since then.”

 

A few months later, Kelt parted from Captain Kar and his crew on Commenor ready to make his way into the very heart of the galaxy and his future.

 

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